Today I got a message from my mom on my phone, it was a picture four baby kittens in a cardboard box.I was gushing with cuteness, while I had my grandma take me over there ASAP so I could see the baby kittens. Come to find out, they where hiding under some leaves my mom was raking up and was discovered accidentally. Their mother had ran away as soon as my mom got close, leaving the kittens in our hands. We kept them in the box, keeping them company for a while. Once I was done cooing over them, I looked up and saw the mother from a distance. I picked up the box of the mewling kittens, and took them to the shade. The mother watched as I picked up the loudest kitten and sat him beside the box, and I slowly stepped away hoping she would come and get him. But then, my dad drove by on the four-wheeler (-__-); spooking the mom and causing her to run to the side of a small collapsed barn. I moved the box to near the barn, and again proceeded to taking out the loudest kitten and setting him by the box. I heard rustling in the bushes I was standing beside, and saw the mother peering through at her tiny kit. I quietly and slowly stepped away from the kitten. My gaze met with the mothers, and I could see relief flood her eyes, as if she wanted to say, 'thank you'. I watched from a distance as she picked up the kitten in her jaws and ran off. I sat and waited for over an hour for her to come get the rest. She never did. I was beginning to loose hope, and on the verge to beg my parents to keep the kittens. But, all of my family had to come inside and eat dinner so I was going inside hoping that nothing would happen to the kittens while I was gone. While I was about to begin eating, I glanced out the window, and saw the mother getting her second kitten. When I was done eating, I went out to see if she had gotten anymore. No, there was still three kittens. I went ahead and went home, and I am hoping with all my heart that the mother has gotten the rest of them. Everyone assures me that the mom will come and get them, so I hope that is a fact. I get to see in the morning what happened to the others, so please keep them in your prayers <3

Oh, that's good To tell you the truth, I would have taken them inside and begged my parents to let me keep them XD but I live in the city, not near any woods or anything, so they would be dead by morning where I live and my mother would have let me keep them. (I'm suspecting that you don't live in the city )

Where I live, the other cats would probably hurt the kittens. All of the cats in my shitty neighbor hood are assholes, except my kitty, Almost he's black with green eyes. His warrior name is Shadowleap because he's pretty wild and can jump really high

Er, I don't want to be the wet blanket, but you should NEVER touch a cat's kittens, they don't recognise their kittens by sight, they do it by smell. I hate to say it but she probably didn't come and get the rest because of you handling them. The only time it's acceptable to touch a cat's kittens is when you're their owner, as they recognise your smell as being family, and even then it carries the risk of the mother rejecting them. Also, giving a cat eye contact is basically squaring off to it; it's the cat equivalent of a dog baring it's teeth. If you want to communicate friendliness, narrow your eyes like you would when giving a person a dirty look, and don't look at the cat directly.

My apologies, the entry said you were unaware of whether she had returned to get them yet. But still, this is the advice I have been given by every vet, breeder, farmer and RSPCA worker I have ever spoken to about the matter, it's a fact. You were lucky this time, but nine times out of ten the reason mothers abandon their kittens is because people handle them, or disturb the nest. It's always better to exercise caution when the lives of innocent animals are potentially at risk. If you are concerned, contact someone who is a trained professional and knows what they're doing. Even with the best intentions you could accidentally do harm.

I see your point, but my family isn't the type to call any professionals to take care of a few kittens... :\ I totally would, but I'm only 15... I saw the mother come and get two of the kittens, and I left the box there so she could come and get the rest. I'm hoping my grandma checked in on them this morning.

Ah, I see Well, a shelter isn't likely to take you any less seriously because of your age, though I know they might want to speak to your parents :S And I'm not entirely sure how it works with regards to contacting them in the US, in Britain we're very lucky to have the RSPCA, which works country-wide. I hope they're all well, too.

no, you never ever give a cat the stink eye. you get as low as you possibly can, and blink very slowly. you can touch the kittens if you are accepted by the mother. i know this because i rescued a feral and her babes last summer, we found the babes first and then the mom. if you are very slow and basically ignore a feral cat, you can gain their trust.

I don't know what "The stink eye" is (I'm from the UK) Slow blinking also works, but that's not actually what the cat is doing. They narrow their eyes, and then blink, which gives the impression that they're blinking very slowly. Of course it can be done, but it's always better not to interfere, especially if you don't know what you're doing. There's no way of knowing how a feral or stray cat (Over here they're not the same thing, a feral cat is essentially a second generation stray that has never had human contact or lived with humans, a stray is just a lost cat.) is going to react to you. Even with the best intentions you could cause the mother to abandon her kittens, which would more than likely result in their deaths.